Quickstep Holdings Ltd, Australia’s leading independent carbon fibre composites manufacturer, has announced that it has produced its 10,000th F-35 component for the global aerospace programme. Current F-35 contracts achieved full-rate production over the last 12 months and 10,000 parts represents approximately A$250 million of revenue over the last 7 years.

 

Quickstep manufactures more than 50 individual components and assemblies for Northrop Grumman, Marand Precision Engineering, and BAE Systems, and each F-35 Lightning II aircraft currently in production incorporates approximately A$440,000 of content built at its facility at Bankstown Aerodrome in Western Sydney. This provides direct employment for almost 170 highly skilled operations staff, engineers, and support personnel across the business and many more within its domestic supply chain.

 

Based on forecast aircraft production volumes, and at current rates of supply, Quickstep is just 20 per cent of the way through this important build programme.

 

“We are extremely proud of the trust and confidence placed in us by leading global aerospace OEM, the US DoD, and the Australian DoD. We have built a reputation for excellent delivery, quality, and cost performance and look forward to securing more production opportunities on F-35 and other advanced aerospace platforms,” Quickstep CEO Mark Burgess, said in a press release.